Half of Chicago Students Drop Out, Study Finds

Calling the dropout problem in Chicago "a human tragedy of enormous
dimensions," a recent study has found that almost half of the 39,500
public-school students in the 1980 freshman class failed to graduate,
and that only about a third of those who did were able to read at or
above the national 12th-grade level.

"These statistics about the class of 1984 reflect the destruction of
tens of thousands of young lives, year in and year out," says the
study, released in January by Designs for Change, a nonprofit research
and child-advocacy organization in Chicago.

"Most of these young people are permanently locked out of our
changing economy and have no hope of continuing their education or
getting a permanent job with a future," the authors write.

Low Reading Ability

The report, "The Bottom Line: Chicago's Failing Schools and How To
Save Them," notes that 53 percent, or 21,000 students, failed to
complete high school within the public-school system; according to
Suzanne Davenport, program associate for Designs for Change, about 8
percent of those students probably transferred or moved away.

Of the 18,500 students who did graduate from city schools, only
6,000 were able to read at or above the national 12th-grade level as
measured by standardized tests of achievement, according to the study.
Of the remaining 12,500 graduates, 5,000 were reading at or below the
junior-high level.

"As disturbing as these figures are, they conceal an even more
desperate situation that affects those black and Hispanic students who
attend the system's segregated high schools--more than two-thirds of
the original class of 1984," the study notes.

Two-thirds of Chicago's high-school students are enrolled in regular
neighborhood public schools, or what the report calls "segregated,
nonselective schools" on the grounds that they are usually segregated
by neighborhood ethnicity, Ms. Davenport said. The other one-third are
in "selective academic" or "selective vocational" high schools that
require entrance examinations for admission.

For the Chicago school system overall, the high-school-completion
rate is about 47 percent, compared with the national average rate of 73
percent.

But "this blanket statistic is deceptive," the study points out.

In Chicago's regular neighborhood high schools, the average
completion rate is only about 38 percent, while in selective academic
high schools, about 73 percent of the students graduate. In schools
that are more than 70-percent Hispanic, the graduation rate is about 36
percent, while in high schools that are more than 70-percent black,
about 35 percent of the students graduate, the researchers found.

The study points out that even the higher figure for academic high
schools is much lower than the graduation rate for schools in suburban
Chicago, where the average completion rate is 92 percent.

Reading Difficulties

In addition, of the 9,500 who do graduate from the nonselective
schools, only 2,000 read at or above the national average, according to
the report.

Overall, the group's research found, only 33 percent of Chicago's
high-school seniors read at or above the national average.

"Thus, Chicago's graduating seniors have an extremely poor record of
reading achievement, in spite of the fact that less than 50 percent
complete high school in Chicago, and many who drop out before their
senior year are low achievers," the study states.

Reforms Not Helping

While the study notes that the graduating class of 1984 entered high
school before reforms were instituted in Chicago's elementary schools,
it argues that, in fact, these reforms are doing little to stem the
dropout rate and promote academic achievement.

To back up this claim, the group analyzed the reading-achievement
scores of 34,800 students who were enrolled in high school as 9th
graders and are expected to graduate in 1987. These are the students
who would have benefited from the school reforms, the study claims.

However, the reading scores of those students on tests taken a few
months before they entered high school show that only 25 percent of the
class of 1987 could read at or above the national average, the report
notes.

Unprepared for High School

"And 30 percent of Chicago's 9th graders are so far behind in
reading that they will graduate from high school reading at or below
the junior-high-school level, even if they remain in school four
years," the report states. The data, it says, indicate that Chicago
elementary schools are still failing to prepare students for
high-school work.

"The response to bad news in the Chicago school system has become a
well-developed ritual," the report states. "In reaction to public
complaints about the dropout problem, for example, the schools set up
task forces to 'study the problem,' in 1976, 1981, and 1984. Typically,
plans for improvement function not as blueprints for change, but rather
as public-relations devices to diffuse criticism.

"What is so frustrating about the continuing failure of the Chicago
Public Schools," the report continues, "is that other cities and states
are making basic improvements and have already turned the corner in
creating schools that work."

Ten-Point Plan

Designs for Change offers a 10-point plan to improve the public
schools. Among the suggestions are:

Increased parental participation organized at the school level.

Adoption of four top priorities--improving basic skills; increasing
the graduation rate; increasing students' access to the job market; and
increasing access to higher education.

Negotiation of an employment and higher-education compact with
Chicago businesses and colleges, similar to one established a few years
ago in Boston, to give preference to Chicago public-school
graduates.

Setting as a top priority the goal of improving the nonselective
schools.

Responding to the study's findings, William F. Jones, director of
the Chicago School Department's dropout-prevention program, said city
statistics put the number of dropouts at between 32 and 40 percent in
any given year rather than at almost 50 percent, but he agreed that the
figures denote "a devastating problem."

Mr. Jones said the recommendations offered by the organization "may
have some impact," but he argued that the most important factor in
preventing dropouts is "improving the quality of life through the
family."

"I've been dealing with dropouts for 20 years, and I think the
reasons for dropping out are mostly correlated with problems at home,"
he said. "The best way to improve education for kids is to have parents
educated."

Web Only

Notice: We recently upgraded our comments. (Learn more here.) If you are logged in as a subscriber or registered user and already have a Display Name on edweek.org, you can post comments. If you do not already have a Display Name, please create one here.

Ground Rules for Posting
We encourage lively debate, but please be respectful of others. Profanity and personal attacks are prohibited. By commenting, you are agreeing to abide by our user agreement.
All comments are public.